Queen Ahhotep I

Queen Ahotep I was the daughter of Queen Tetisheri, the wife of her brother Seqenenre Taa II, and the the mother of Kamose, Ahmose I and Queen Ahmose Nefertari. She is also thought to have been the mother of the princes Ahmose Sipair and Binpu and the princesses Ahmose-Henutemipet, Ahmose-Nebetta, Ahmose-Meritamun and Ahmose-Tumerisy. When he was killed fighting the Hyksos, Ahotep rallied the troops and maintained the pressure on the invaders until her son Kamose was old enough to lead the army. A stele in Karnak temple records her service to the nation, stating:

"The king's wife, the noble lady, who knew everything, assembled Kemet. She looked after what her Sovereign had established. She guarded it. She assembled her fugitives. She brought together her deserters. She pacified her Upper Egyptians. She subdued her rebels, The king´s wife Ahhotep given life".

When her second son Ahmose succeeded in expelling the Hyksos, he led his army to Nubia to regain lost territories. While he was gone, a group of Hyksos sympathisers tried to steal the throne. Ahhotep foiled this attempt, and was awarded the "golden flies of valour" by her son. He also gave her a cache of beautiful jewellery and ornamental weaponry which was found in a tomb at Dra Abu el-Naga near the Valley of the Kings. Her original tomb has not been discovered

Bibliography

Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton (2004) The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt